Gundam Thunderbolt: Dancing among the Stars
by EthanOBoss
Summary: Autumn was nothing, but he thought piloting a mobile suit for Zeon would make him worth something. Now he finds himself in a war he wants no part in and taking the lives of people he doesn't even know. War is hell, and Autumn is about to have a front row seat to it all...
1. Tears and Shell Casings

Autumn leaned his head back into his cockpit chair. He cupped his hands around his face and took a deep breath, his hands were still trembling. The air hung heavy with the smell of spent shell casings and fuel. His mind was racing but his body appeared calm and collected. He was knocked out of his trance by someone banging on the cockpit entrance. Autumn quickly shuffled with the controls and opened the cockpit door. His friend Wally was floating right outside. The noise from the hanger bay broke his cockpit's eerie silence.

"You ready?" asked Wally with a smile as he floated inside.

Autumn swallowed before answering, "Yeah, at least I think so." he said as his voice shook a little.

"You're scared aren't you?" asked Wally seeming concerned.

Autumn spoke up, "How can I not be? This is our first time seeing real combat and our training wasn't exactly what one would call high quality." he said taking his gloves off and setting them on his control console.

"It's better than living in the poor slums that we came from. This is a golden opportunity. We could be heroes!" said Wally patting Autumn's shoulder. Autumn didn't answer, all he could do was look down at his hands.

Wally didn't need an answer, "I can see you need me to leave you alone, We'll be fine! Don't worry about it. I'll have your back." Says Wally as he pushes himself out of the Zaku II.

Autumn looks up at Wally, "Don't get cocky!" shouts Autumn with a smile on his face.

Wally sits himself into his old Zaku I, "Too late!" he shouts back as the cockpit seals shut. Autumn does the same with his mobile suit.

Autumn's Zaku II wasn't always his, it belonged to another pilot before him. The previous pilot was killed by a piece of debris during combat so the whole torso had to be replaced. Before he was killed, the last pilot painted a shark mouth and teeth on the side of the Zaku's helmet which has already started to fade. The Zaku's mono-eye flares to life with the rest of Autumn's team. The team leader, who pilots a heavily armored Dom, comes on over the team's coms. "Soldiers of Zeon! We are here to crush the dreaded Earth Federation and take the Thunderbolt Sector! I have full faith in your abilities to serve Zeon and even if you die out there know that you served the Principality well! I see no need for this speech to be long as you all know our mission. This fleet desperately needs supplies and we will be here to give it to them. Sieg Zeon!". Autumn rolls his eyes, he always saw through the Zeon propaganda, though he never considered himself treasonous to the cause. One by one each of the mobile suits launch out of the hanger bay and soon all of them are well on their way to their objective.

Wally's Zaku I slowly takes position behind a piece of debris overlooking the target. The target is a destroyed Magellen class battleship which still has vital fuel and ammunition that the Zeon fleet desperately needs. The team leader comes on over the coms, "Wally and Autumn, you two stay on over watch while the rest of us head inside." he says as his Dom and three other Zaku II's drift toward the warship. Autumn's Zaku perches itself on top of a destroyed gun turret and cocks it's large machine gun. Some time passes as the Zaku II's mono-eye scans from left to right taking in the environment.

"Do you see that? Are those stars moving?" asks Wally as his Zaku I examines some debris above them.

Autumn's Zaku moves it's large mono-eye to get a better view. "Those aren't stars...Those are mobile suits!" He shouts.

In the distance, four Thunderbolt configured GMs speed toward the wreckage blocking debris chunks with their two large shields. The Zaku lifts it's large machine gun and opens fire on the incoming targets. The rugged machine gun clangs in the darkness of space as the large shells leave the barrel. Wally's Zaku I soon follows suit. The shots bounce off the GM's shields sending sparks flying through the darkness. The Federation mobile suits soon open fire with their scatter guns.

Inside the ship, the Dom and the other Zakus make their way to the engine room by cutting through large amounts of metal using the Dom's heat saber. The long heat saber melts through the ships hull with ease. The three other Zakus stand watch over their commander. As the Dom cuts it's way through the thick metal, a small explosion rocks the derelict ship.

The commander immediately gets on the coms. "Wally and Autumn, What's going on out there?!" he shouts.

Outside the ship, the GM's have taken position on top of the crippled battleship and are firing up at Wally and Autumn's mobile suits. "Four Fed mobile suits are on top of the ship, we have the situation under control for now! Just please hurry up!" says Wally back to the commander returning fire.

Wally leans out from behind cover and takes a few shots at the GMs. One of the rounds impacts a GM's shoulder. The mobile suit stumbles back before regaining balance and firing back. Before he can duck back into cover, a stray beam hits one of the Zaku I's hands melting it and some of the forearm away. Wally takes shelter behind the floating debris. One of the GMs deploys it's beam saber and cuts a hole in the battleship's hull. Two of the GMs head inside the ship while the other two continue to suppress Wally and Autumn.

"Autumn! I'm hit! I've lost one of my manipulators! I can't aim my weapon properly!" says Wally attempting to fire his machine gun with one recoil proves to much to control causing Wally to miss his shots.

Autumn pulls back into cover for a moment and thinks. "Follow my lead! Give me cover!" Autumn says as he deploys his heat hawk axe and charges toward the GMs.

"Sir, above you!" shouts one of the Zaku pilots inside the ship. A large piece of metal is kicked down on top of the Dom. Two GMs jump down through the hole and quickly dispatch two of the Zakus with ease. The third Zaku lunges forward with it's axe drawn and takes a slice at one of the GM's arms. The GM deploys it's beam saber and quickly cuts off the Zaku hand that's holding the axe. The Dom pushes the large piece of metal off of it's back and activates it's heat saber. It swings the burning metal down onto the head of one of the GM's. The head melts away almost instantly as the saber plunges down into the cockpit burning away the pilot and most of the torso of the mobile suit. The other GM fires it's scatter gun at the Dom but is pulled away by the remaining armless Zaku. The Zaku starts beating on the GM with it's remaining arm. The GM struggles to escape from the iron grip of the desperate and damaged mobile suit. The Dom lunges forward and thrusts it's fist at the GM's torso. The impact dents all the outer armor, it punches again and this time it's fist crushes the cockpit. The GM stops struggling and goes limp.

Autumn swung his axe down into one of the GM's shoulders. He pulled his axe back to go for another blow, but the GM ignited it's beam saber and countered his attack. Autumn retreated back a few meters before lunging forward again. The two weapons clashed once more shooting sparks over both of the mobile suits. At this point Autumn was breathing heavily, his hands were trembling at the controls. The GM kicked away his Zaku sending Autumn shaking around the cockpit. The GM upholstered it's scatter gun and fired dozens of shots at the Zaku. The beams scorched the Zaku's armor revealing the sensitive innards beneath. Autumn used his thrusters and shot back down onto the surface of the ship. Autumn threw one of his machine gun drums at the GM. The empty drum smashed into the GM's head shattering the eye sensors blinding the pilot. Autumn thrusted forward and pinned down the GM. He ripped off the armor plates on the front torso revealing the cockpit. He tore off the cockpit door but stopped dead in his tracks. The pilot inside of the GM was cowering in fear, Autumn looked down at the pilot who seemed no older than twelve years old. The child looked up at the dark green mobile suit standing over him in pure fear. Autumn let go of the disabled mobile suit and stopped for a moment. Wally pushed Autumn out of the way and stepped his large Zaku I's foot onto the GM cockpit. Autumn let out the most ear splitting scream he'd ever let out in his life. The cockpit was nothing more than twisted metal and red paste. Behind Wally was his commander and the one remaining Zaku from inside the ship. The Dom was holding a large container of what looked to be fuel. Their mission was a success. "Let's get back to the ship" said the commander over the coms. The trip back was completely silent.

When the team got back to the ship, Autumn exited his mobile suit and hunted Wally down. Wally turned to Autumn with a smile on his face but was immediately met with a hard punch to the face.

"What the hell?!" shouted Wally turning to Autumn with his fists clenched.

"That was a kid you killed! In that broken down GM!" shouted Autumn with tears welling up in his eyes.

"It was a Fed! If I didn't kill him he would've done the same to you!" Wally responded as he got closer to Autumn.

"Oh so you can see the future now huh!? How do you know that?!" Said Autumn grabbing the rim of Wally's helmet.

"If you're gonna do something then do it! I just did what was best for Zeon! Have you lost your loyalty?!" shouted Wally pushing Autumn off of him.

"I'd rather lose my loyalty then lose my humanity!" Screamed Autumn wiping his eyes. The two enraged pilots started exchanging blows and kicks with one another.

"Enough!" shouted their team commander exiting his Dom. The hanger bay was completely silent, everyone nearby was observing the heated argument. Even the mobile suit repair teams had stopped their noisy work to watch. Both Autumn and Wally immediately went to attention. The commander grabs Autumn's collar and slapped him across the face.

"I have no place for someone who can't make good decisions in battle on my team! Child or not they are the enemy, they are here to kill us and we are here to kill them. I don't want any more irrational decisions being made out there Autumn, or I'll have you sent back to the slums we found you in." said the commander. Both he and Wally walked away from Autumn leaving him alone next to his Zaku. Everyone in the hanger bay went back to the business they were working on before. Autumn went and closed himself inside his Zaku. He wiped his now bloody nose on the sleeve of his flight suit. He took a deep breath, but all he could do was sob...


	2. Winter Air and Warm Fire

Autumn woke up in a cold sweat, he gasped for air as he put his hand on his moist forehead. He took deep breaths trying to calm himself down. He rolled out of his small cot into the zero gravity sleeping quarters. He looked around the room, he could hear snoring from a few of the cots, it looked like he was the only one awake. He effortlessly floated down towards a window in the sleeping area. He gazed out into the blackness of space, each star twinkled with it's own unique pattern, it almost hypnotized Autumn. He closed eyes and thought back to his nightmare. The old battleship, the poor child in the GM being stepped on, Wally's face after they had their fight. It had been days since the incident and everything had been relatively quiet. Wally hadn't spoken to him since, whenever they would see each other it was just awkward silence. Wally was always a follower, Autumn knew this. This war would change him, and not for the better.

He thought back to his days as a young child on Side 3. How he wanted so badly to soar the stars in a mobile suit. Now that he got where he wanted to be, was it really what he wanted? He wasn't sure anymore after seeing what combat was really like. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. He remembered the smell of his mother's cooking before she passed away. He would give anything just for a bite.

When he opened his eyes, he saw something peculiar outside the window. A beam blast flew by out of nowhere and struck the side of a near by Musai class cruiser. The small explosion cascaded and the ship eventually blew itself to pieces. The explosion rocked the carrier that Autumn was on causing all of the sleeping soldiers to wake up. People started crawling out of their cots trying to figure out what was happening. The alarm in the ship blared and the captain came over the intercom. "All pilots report to your mobile suits! We are under attack! All hands to your battle stations! Defend this ship at all costs!" said the captain in a panic. Autumn sprinted his way down to the hanger bay, every bone in his body was telling him to run to the escape pods, but he would be shot on sight for that. When he reached the hanger bay everyone was rushing about trying to get into their mobile suits. Autumn opened his cockpit and quickly climbed inside sealing the door behind him. His old Zaku powered up and grabbed it's large machine gun. Before he could fuel his mobile suit, a beam crashed into the rear of the hanger bay detonating the fuel reserves. The explosion knocked Autumn's mobile suit out of the hanger bay and into the blackness of space.

Autumn fiddled with the controls and tried to regain control of the tumbling mobile suit, but without fuel he wasn't going to go anywhere. It was silent, except for the sound of Autumn's heavy breathing and some faint jazz playing through his mobile suit radio. Whoever was destroying the fleet was also listening to music. Autumn's Zaku slammed into a chunk of building debris, the mobile suit pulled itself up and out of the debris and took position on the building with it's gun ready. He tried to get a lock onto the enemy mobile suit but it was way too fast for his tracking to keep up. The enemy mobile suit blasted through all of the ships in his fleet with ease. By now some GMs had also joined the fight. Autumn fired aimlessly towards the mobile suits, hoping one of his stray shots would hit, but to no avail. The enemy mobile suit stopped for a moment and fired it's last shot. It then retreated into the darkness toward the main colony. Autumn was still breathing heavily, he rubbed his face with his hands and tried to calm himself down. He reached back for the controls and reloaded his Zaku machine gun.

The flaming carrier slowly drifted above Autumn, although the ship was essentially destroyed, no escape pods were launched from what it looked like. The crew intended to stick it out until the end. Autumn saw no other choice but to leap for the ship. He had to get back to his squad somehow and without any fuel, it was his only choice. His Zaku leaped up off of the debris and sped towards the damaged carrier. The Zaku slammed into the hull of the ship thrashing Autumn's head into his control console. Autumn went numb for a moment as his Zaku slid down the hull of the massive ship. Autumn regained his bearings and tried to grab at the metal of the ship with his mobile suit. The large Zaku hands scraped across the hull as it tried to get a grip. The mobile suit slid off the end of the ship and into the vastness of space.

Wally punched the wall of the ship. "That damn traitor! I knew something was up with him! First the scavenging incident and now this, I'll have him for treason." said Wally blinded by Zeon patriotism. The rest of the carrier crew was taking refuge in the sleeping quarters of the ship. The on-board science team was planning on detonating the engine room in the event of any Federation forces boarding the damaged vessel. The crew, what was left of it, was not in the best shape. Many people had burns, cuts, and severed limbs. Small droplets of blood, sweat, and maybe even tears floated throughout the room. Over the intercom, all that was playing was some slow and calming music. Some of the crew were mouthing along with the words, others were humming softly, and the rest were just sitting in silence.

Autumn took a deep breath, when he exhaled he saw a cloud of his own breath. His cockpit was freezing cold and the controls were stiff. His mobile suit had run out of power and was now drifting through space aimlessly. Small chunks of debris would bounce off the armor of his Zaku. All he could do now was hope someone would stumble across him. Autumn had gotten control over his breathing, his exterior appeared still and calm no matter how panicked he was on the inside. That's one thing he was praised for when he was a kid, no matter how hurt or scared he was, he would never cry. The adults in the slums liked that, being a cry baby where he grew up was unacceptable. Autumn pulled his legs up to his torso and wrapped his arms around them. He was doing whatever he could to stay warm, he didn't want to be an ice cube for whoever found him.

Autumn heard a sound come from outside the cockpit. It didn't sound like debris or gunfire, but it sounded like mechanical arms working around. Before he could pinpoint what it was his cockpit started shaking. Something outside was moving his mobile suit, he shouted and banged on the side of the cockpit to get the attention of whoever was out there. There was no response. Before he could try anything else, his mobile suit smashed into something. Autumn's head smashed into the side of the cockpit knocking him out cold.

Back at the fleet, a gunfight had broken out on the carrier. Federation forces had boarded the ship and were attempting to take what was left of the ship. Something happened with the science team, they had failed to detonate the engine room leaving the crew to fend off the overwhelming Federation force. Wally had fled the sleeping quarters and was running down to the escape pods, if there were any left. He ran down hallways as smoke choked his lungs. When he turned the corner he saw that one escape pod was still left. He quickly opened the hatch and climbed inside. Without hesitation he launched the pod from the crippled carrier. As he speeds away from the carrier, a massive explosion rocks what's left of the ship. 3 GMs and a Guncannon back away as the final explosion destroys the ship.

The resulting shockwave sends Wally's escape pod into an uncontrollable spin. Wally feels around the cockpit for anyway to control the spiraling escape pod. Just when Wally had run out of hope, his pod suddenly stops dead in his tracks. He looks out the window and his eyes light up. A Zeon Gelgoog had caught his pod. The mono-eye twisted toward the cockpit before rolling back forward. Two more Gelgoogs fly past Wally and his ally towards the ruins of the carrier. They both open fire on the retreating GMs and Guncannon. The Guncannon twists around and fires it's large shoulder cannons at the two incoming mobile suits. They counter these shots with their shields and return fire with their beam rifles. One of the shots hits the Guncannon's ammo reserve causing the top half of the mobile suit to explode leaving behind a floating pair of legs. The GMs rush forward with their beam sabers drawn. The first Gelgoog thrusts forward and grabs the closest GM by the arm. The GM struggles to get out of the Zeon mobile suit's grasp. The Gelgoog rips the beam saber out of the GM's hand and twists it into the cockpit. It throws the limp mobile suit at the second GM knocking it back. The second Gelgoog carefully picks off the two GMs with it's beam rifle.

The two Gelgoogs return to the one holding Wally's escape pod. They all seem to stare at each other, but Wally knows they're probably talking to each other via their radios. After a few moments, The three mobile suits get into formation and fly off back to their fleet with Wally in their grasp...


	3. Rolling Dunes and Raining Fallout

Autumn took a deep breath, the air around him was warm this time. He felt around the pitch black space he was in. The walls were metal, he reached out in front of him and felt his cockpit controls. Wherever he was, he was still inside his mobile suit. He ran his hand up the door in front of him until he felt the emergency release for his cockpit. He pulled down the heavy handle releasing the latch on the door, the air tight seal broke and the door opened a small bit. He pushed open the door and he was blinded by bright sunlight. When his eyes adjusted he was shocked at what he saw. Dunes of sand extended for miles into the horizon and the sun beamed down on him sending a warm sensation down his spine.. He was on Earth, he breathed in the warm desert air and exhaled. He had never seen anything like it, the colony he grew up on never compared to this. His mobile suit was resting on it's knees about half a mile from a shanty town. He stepped down onto some stairs outside of his cockpit. he looked up and around and saw that there was scaffolding all around his mobile suit. In some spots there was some sand colored paint. Someone was trying to spray the mobile suit into a desert color for camouflage. Whoever it was, it seemed they intended to use the Zaku. Before Autumn could examine any more, he heard the familiar sound of a gun being cocked behind him.

"Who are you?" said the figure, she was wearing a desert colored cloak and was holding a small pistol out in front of her. She looked no older than 13.

Autumn slowly put his hands up, "My name is Autumn. I-"

Autumn was quickly cut off by the girl, "I don't care what your name is, what're you doing here?" she said taking a step closer.

"I have no idea where I am." said Autumn laughing to himself on the inside, she must've thought he was playing dumb.

"What do you mean you don't know where you are? Where did you come from?" She said as her patience was obviously running out.

Autumn didn't respond, he simply turned and pointed to the open cockpit of the mobile suit. The girl's eyes widened and she slowly lowered her gun. She reached for a communicator in her pocket and quickly turned around. She spoke softly into it for a few seconds before putting it back into her cloak. "Come with me." she said sternly before turning to walk to the town in the distance. Autumn followed her close behind.

The town was very small, a small group of children were playing in front of what looked like a school. In the distance Autumn saw a blacksmith forging large metal rods at least a foot thick and nearly fifteen feet long. People were bustling around and going about their lives. Most of the buildings seemed poorly constructed, although you don't need too much protection in the desert Autumn thought to himself. He followed the girl into a house at the far end of the village. She closed the door behind him and gestured for him to go forward. Autumn slowly walked forward into the room and stops in front of the doorway. In the room there is a man sitting behind a desk, he's bald and has a large burn on the right side of his face. He's very muscular and is easily over six feet tall. He stands up from his desk with a smile on his face and outstretches his hand. Autumn walks forward and shakes the man's hand.

"I'm Cade," He says as he sits back down. Gesturing for Autumn to do the same.

Autumn takes a seat but still feels on edge, he can't sit still and keeps fidgeting in his seat.

"And you are?" Cade asks leaning forward.

"I'm Autumn, I'm a mobile suit pilot." Autumn says swallowing.

Cade nods his head. "I'm assuming you pilot that Zaku II out there. Beautiful mobile suit, sorry for any inconvenience but we had no idea that you were in there. We couldn't seem to get the cockpit open, those things are tough." He said leaning back into his chair.

Autumn took a breath before speaking, "If you don't mind me asking, how exactly did I get here? Last I remember I was floating around in the Thunderbolt Sector. I have to find a way back to my fleet."

Cade nodded and hesitated for a moment. "We have contacts in the Federation, they were able to get us a mobile suit that was in good condition. It turns out you were in there as well. After all we need some form of protection out here. You never know who might be coming for you. And about your fleet, I'd say there's nothing to really go back to." said Cade in a relaxed tone.

Autumn nodded and started to relax, "So who are you guys?" he asked curiously.

Cade chuckled, "We're the Sandsharks. All of us are soldiers who didn't want any part of the Earth Federation or the Principality of Zeon. So we all came together and founded this small little town here and we've been living happily ever since. The war has taken a lot more than it has given so we want no part of it. Although we wanted a means to defend ourselves so we scavenged your Zaku from the Thunderbolt sector." He said with a smile on his face.

Autumn nodded and looked down at the floor. Before he could say anything, their conversation was interrupted by the ground shaking. Cade quickly stood up and picked up his radio. "What's going on?!" he shouted into the mic. He waited a moment before throwing the radio down in anger once he got his answer.

"What's going on?" asked Autumn curiously.

Cade sat down and responded "There's a Guntank, 2 Guncannons, and 2 GMs about 4 miles from here, they're shelling our location."

Autumn thought for a moment. He could still pilot the Zaku, though he already hated doing it. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "What about the Zaku? I can hold them off while you all evacuate. If you have weapons that is."

Cade's eyes lit up, "The prototype..." he stood up and shuffled through a drawer and pulled out a radio. He tossed it too Autumn. "I'll tell you what to do, just get to the mobile suit."

Autumn nodded and ran out the door. The towns people were rushing into their homes, it was now he realized how little protection they would provide against a mobile suit attack. He ran across the dunes to his Zaku. He climbed up the large scaffolds and entered the cockpit. He pulled the large door shut and activated the mobile suit. The mono-eye flared to life as the large machine stood up knocking some of the scaffolding into the sand. Autumn pulled the radio out of his pocket and spoke into it. "I'm in the mobile suit, now what?" he said catching his breath.

"There should be a magnetic sniper rifle next to you. It uses magnets to shoot long rods out and towards the target. Pick that up and come grab some ammo. We're gonna show the Federation what we're made of." Cade said with a smile on his face.

Autumn had never operated a mobile suit in a desert before. The large machine's feet sunk into the sand with every stride. Autumn saw a large pile of metal rods on the ground next to the blacksmith's forge. The mobile suit reached down and grabbed one. He loaded it into the large sniper rifle. The chamber clanged shut as he aimed the rifle checking the sights. The Zaku slowly marched up to the top of a sand dune overlooking the area. The machine slowly knelt down into the sand and aimed the rifle. Autumn pushed a few buttons in his cockpit, he linked his mobile suit to the sights of the rifle allowing him to aim easier. In the distance, the Guncannons and GMs had begun running towards the town. Autumn took aim at the Federation suits. He lined the sights onto on of the GMs chests. He pulled the trigger on the rifle. Instead of a loud bang, the rod slid down and out of the barrel at a blistering speed creating the awful sound of metal grinding on metal. The large rod flew and tore threw the GM's chest. The mangled rod landed in the sand behind the GM covered in machine fluids and blood. The GM stumbled a few steps before falling forward into the sand. The other 3 mobile suits stopped dead in their tracks and turned in Autumn's direction. The Guncannons began opening fire on Autumn. The large shells kicked up dust and sand creating a cloud between them. Autumn's Zaku fumbled with the rods and tried to load another into the rifle. The two GMs emerged through the dust cloud and lunged at Autumn with their beam sabers drawn. The first GM struck Autumn's Zaku in the shoulder, the beam cut through the armor like a hot knife through butter. Autumn's Zaku stumbled backwards attempting to push back against the GM attack. The GM pulled it's saber out of Autumn's Zaku before lunging forward for another attack. Autumn pulled out his heat hawk and countered the GM's strike just in time. Another GM swung out from behind Autumn and thrusted it's saber towards Autumn's cockpit. Autumn dashed to his left causing the GM to stab his ally in the chest disabling the mobile suit.

"I'll kill you Zeon scum!" said the GM pilot. Autumn heard this violent remark through his radio. The man on the other end sounded much older than the child he encountered in the Thunderbolt. It made Autumn feel better about killing him, though it was still no easy task. Autumn was breathing heavily and didn't feel the need to respond to him. Autumn's Zaku ran forward with it's heat hawk lifted above it's head. Before Autumn could land a strike on the GM, a large explosive shell pounds Autumn's Zaku in the leg. His mobile suit stumbles and falls to the sand. Autumn smacks his head into the control console drawing blood from his forehead. The Zaku mono-eye turns back and forth searching for what hit him. In the distance. the 2 Guncannons from earlier stride confidently towards Autumn and his GM enemy. Autumn tries to stand up, but his mobile suit can't keep it's balance. Autumn's heart drops once he realizes what's happened. The explosive shell blew off his Zaku's leg

"I've got you now..." says the GM pilot laughing to himself. Autumn's mind starts racing as he tries to find a solution to his dire situation. The Zaku tries to grab a hold of the sand and crawl away from the Federation mobile suit. The GM lifts up it's beam saber to lay down the final blow. Autumn comes up with a last ditch plan. His Zaku reaches over and grabs his heat hawk. He swings it over and strikes the GM right in the stomach area beneath the cockpit. The GM stumbles backwards for a few moments with the axe still in it's stomach. The GM pilot laughs.

"Nice try, but you missed..." says the GM pilot.

Autumn smirks as his Zaku looks up at the enemy mobile suit, "Don't be so sure about that. You've already lost." says Autumn with confidence.

The GM looks down at the heat hawk. The ax has been burning a whole in the GM's reactor heating up all the nuclear material inside. Autumn fumbles around with his hand held radio before speaking into it.

"Cade!" says Autumn with some pain in his voice, "Get everyone to cover!" he says covering his ears.

Cade, who has been rounding everyone up to evacuate, responds quickly. "Alright Autumn, I hope you know what you're doing." he says before getting the small town worth of people into what shelter they have. The GM pilot screams into his radio, "God damn you! The Federation will have your head for this!" he says as his mobile suit detonates. The large shock wave sends Autumn and the Guncannons spiraling through the air. Autumn braces for impact as his large suit collides with the ground...


	4. Blasted Zaku and Blue Ocean

Autumn's mobile suit crawled across the sand dunes, the mobile suit's left leg was reduced to nothing but a frail frame, the left arm was completely blown off, and the mono-eye was nearly destroyed. The explosion from the GM had kicked up a large dust cloud that made seeing long distances impossible. Autumn had tried the comms multiple times. but all he heard was static. The wind outside had picked up, turning the dust cloud into more of a contained sandstorm, the small grains of sand pelted the Zaku's scorched armor. Autumn finally stumbles upon the town where the Sandsharks were. It's in ruins, buildings are completely toppled over, the outer wall is blown to pieces, and in the town center lies the arm of one of the GMs, some of the fingers on it are still twitching. Autumn's heart sinks, he sees no sign of the town's residents. With his mobile suit's remaining arm, he fumbles through the rubble looking for survivors, but all he finds is bodies. "Please...Please..." Autumn whispers to himself over and over again. Tears well up in Autumn's eyes as he realizes what he's done.

The Zaku finally comes to a halt, the machine finally dies shrouding Autumn in darkness once more. He tries to hold back tears, he doesn't want to believe what has happened. Autumn wipes his eyes with his forearm and opens the hatch of his cockpit. The wind gusts inside as Autumn climbs down into one of the destroyed houses. He stumbles over the rubble and walks out into the town center. Autumn is taken back to reality when the crack of gunfire erupts near him. Bullets land in the sand beside Autumn as a Federation pilot stumbles out into the open holding a hand gun. Autumn quickly sprints and takes cover behind a crumbled wall. The pilot limps forward, in one hand he's holding a pistol and the other is clenching his blood soaked leg.

Autumn puts his hands up from behind the wall. "Wait! Stop!" He shouts. The pilot halts for a moment.

"Why? So you can peek up from behind that wall and shoot me?" He asks pointing the pistol at the wall.

"Don't you think we've done enough damage already? Why don't we both just go our own separate ways?"  
Autumn slowly rises up from behind the wall with his hands still up.

"We've done enough damage?" says the pilot sarcastically, "This was all you. You were the one who caused the meltdown in the first place. We're probably already dead anyway, who knows how much radiation that explosion dispersed." The pilot slowly starts walking forward towards Autumn.

"Yeah...I know. I just..." says Autumn trailing off. The pilot lowers his gun for a moment. The pilot's expression goes from one of blame to one of empathy.

Before he can say anything, the ground shakes slightly. Soon the ground begins to tremor with each one getting stronger than the last. Autumn gestures for the pilot to come hide behind the wall. The pilot hesitates for a moment, but seeing no other choice, he sprints his way over to Autumn. As he ducks behind the wall, Autumn finally sees what's causing the tremors. A Zeon amphibious Zgok rises from behind one the buildings that was left standing. The mono-eye scans the town and soon two more mobile suits of the same type follow up behind.

"Friends of yours?" asks the pilot.

"I don't think so, I don't really consider myself part of Zeon anymore." responds Autumn. The three Zgoks examine the wreckage of the town. By this time the sandstorm had started to die down and it was becoming much easier to see. The pilot slowly made his way to the top of the destroyed building they were in. He looked out and was able to see the coastline, down by the water was another amphibious Zeon mobile suit, the Gogg. The mobile suit was deactivated and kneeling in the sand, the pilot stood next to it trying to repair something in it's leg. The Federation pilot whispered to Autumn and gestured for him to follow him. Autumn looked and saw the Gogg and knew what he was thinking. The two hesitated for a few moments before sprinting across the open sand towards the mobile suits. One of the Zgoks turns and sees the two figures sprinting across the sand. It turns and fires missiles towards the fleeing pilots. The missiles land in the sand a few yards behind the two blowing sand all over them. The Gogg pilot turns around and sees the two pilots sprinting towards him. The federation pilot lifts his gun and fires a few shots towards the Gogg pilot. One of the bullets strikes the Gogg pilot in the stomach causing him to stumble to the ground. Autumn quickly opens the Gogg cockpit and the Federation pilot follows him inside. Autumn sits in the cockpit seat and the pilot squeezes in beside him. The hatch closes as the Gogg flares to life.

All three of the Zgoks were now sprinting towards the Gogg. Autumn looked over the controls and realized how similar they were to a Zaku. The Gogg stood up as Autumn gets ready to fight.

"I hope you know how to work this thing..." says the Federation pilot seeming a little worried.

"We'll be fine... I think." says Autumn.

The two mega particle cannons on the Gogg's stomach begin to spool up. The two cannons fired large green beams at the advancing Zgoks. The beams collide with one of the mobile suits but instead of melting the armor, they warp around the mobile suit and dissipate into the sand. Autumn's eyes widen as he realizes the ineffectiveness of his weapon. "They must be coated in anti-beam armor." says the Federation pilot. Autumn nods and tries firing another weapon. The two torpedo hatches on the front of the Gogg open up and two torpedoes eject and fall into the sand. "You idiot! Those are torpedoes, move over let me pilot." says the Federation pilot. He moves over and the two switch places.

The Gogg's thrusters fire launching the mobile suit towards the aggressors. The Gogg reaches it's clawed hands out towards it's first target, the Gogg sinks it's iron nails into the first Zgok. Instead of letting go, the Gogg drags the Zgok in the sand before hurling the mobile suit into a destroyed house. The two other Zgoks extend out their arms and fire their particle cannons. One of the beams strike the Gogg's left hand, two of the claws fly off the mobile suit and land in the sand. The Gogg picks up one of the claws and charges towards the Zgok stuck in the building and leaps up and thrusts the dismembered claw into the Zgoks mono-eye. The Zgok stops struggling and lies limp in the building. The Gogg turns around and jets forward once more towards the water. It grabs the leg of another one of the Zgok and drags it behind as the other Zgok fires more beams towards them. The Gogg enters the water and slams the Zgok into a coral bed. It uses its claws and cuts a hole in the Zgok cockpit causing it to fill with water. The mobile suit struggles for a few moments before slowly lying down into the sand. The last Zgok clings to the Gogg's back, it tries to cut it's way through the Gogg's thick armor using it's own claws. The Gogg flips around and kicks the Zgok away. The torpedo tubes open up on the Gogg and a lone torpedo shoots out towards the Zgok. It collides with the mobile suit and explodes blowing away the cockpit causing the mobile suit to sink down to the bottom.

The Federation pilot leans back and crosses his arms. Autumn simply sits in awe at the pilot's abilities. The Federation pilot taps away on the controls in front of him. The Gogg descends deep into the sea...


	5. New Allies and Old Enemies

It's been almost an hour since the Gogg had descended into the ocean. The suit was damaged from the small skirmish, but still sea worthy. Autumn had nearly fallen asleep as the pilot he had met drove them deeper into the ocean, but the Federation pilot finally broke the eerie silence.

"Victor." said the pilot.

Autumn raised up his head trying to comprehend what the pilot just said.

"What did you say?" asked Autumn curiously.

"You never asked my name before. It's Victor. I thought you should know since we seem to be stuck in this situation together." He said staring out into the blue abyss ahead of them.

"Ah, I see. I'm Autumn." He responded politely. "So where exactly are you taking us?" he asked.

"There's a bunch of patrol routes for Federation subs around this area, hopefully will run into one before we run out of fuel." says Victor pushing some buttons on the control console.

"Federation subs? You realize I'm an ex-Zeon pilot right?" says Autumn nervously.

"We'll figure that out when we get there I guess." Victor responds.

Autumn gets distracted by the ocean ahead of them. He'd never seen an ocean before and it was finally setting it just how beautiful it was, though he couldn't really see much through the screens ahead of him. He looked down at Victor's leg, it was still drenched in blood. Some had began to pool on the floor of the cockpit.

"Victor. What about your leg?" asked Autumn with some concern in his voice.

Victor looked down and seemed almost surprised about the amount of blood. He hesitated for a moment before speaking up. "Well I'm still kicking aren't I? If we find what we're looking for I can get treated there. We just gotta stay focused."

Alarms begin to blare on the console cutting their conversation short.

"What's going on?!" asks Autumn grabbing hold of the sides of the cockpit.

"Federation mobile suits are closing in on our position." says Victor stopping the Gogg.

In front of them, three RX-77AQ Guncannon Aquas coast toward the mobile suit. The lead suit in the center raises it's hand signalling for the others to stop. A gruff sounding man comes on over the comms.

"Zeon mobile suit, you have entered Federation waters. Power down your mobile suit and surrender immediately or we will open fire." says the voice. The other two Aquas raise their weapons and aim at the Gogg.

"Why aren't they firing?" asks Autumn quietly.

Victor thinks for a moment, his eyes light up once he realizes what it going on. "The treaty talks must've been a success. I think the hostilities have ended between the Federation and Zeon." he says in a light tone.

"Really?" asks Autumn. "I don't remember hearing anything about peace talks." he says.

The gruff voice speaks again, "I repeat, power down your mobile suit and surrender immediately."

"We have no choice but to comply." says Victor powering down the mobile suit. The mono-eye of the Gogg fades out and the suit goes limp in the water. The lead Aqua grabs a hold of the Gogg's arm. Another Aqua grabs a hold of the other arm and the Federation suits take the suit back their submarine.

The three Guncannon Aquas dock with their U-Type Submarine. The Gogg coasts into the hangar bay of the vessel. The water in the room drains and the suit gently gets placed onto the metal floor. Federation technicians rush toward the mobile suit and begin cutting away at the armor plating. The cockpit pops open and Autumn and Victor jump out of the mobile suit onto the cold metal floor. Victor's leg has gotten much worse, he falls down to the ground not long after exiting the cockpit. Autumn rushes over and grabs his arm hoisting it over his shoulder. Autumn helps Victor up off the floor and carries him to the end of the hanger bay. A Federation medic runs over and takes Victor from Autumn. Autumn watches as the medic rolls Victor away toward the medical bay.

The hanger bay isn't nearly as busy as the one he remembered from the Thunderbolt. There were barely any mobile suits being repaired or serviced. All he could see were the three Guncannon Aquas being refueled. The rest of the mobile suits were simply standing idle along the hanger wall. It was an obvious sign that this warship almost never sees combat. It didn't surprise him though, Federation submarines never saw much action in the first place.

"Hey! Over here!" says a voice from behind Autumn interrupting his thought.

Autumn turns around and sees a man in a captains uniform striding towards him. He's a short and thin man with a slight stubble on his face. He takes off his cap and offers his hand to Autumn.

"I'm Captain Tilton. Pleasure to meet ya." he says shaking Autumn's hand.

Autumn nods before responding, "Autumn" he says.

The captain turns and points up at the Gogg. "Quite a beautiful machine ya got there. Looks like she's taken a beating. What exactly happened to you guys?" he asks turning back to Autumn.

"I wish I knew sir, I'm assuming it was Zeon forces." says Autumn struggling to look into the captain's eyes.

"I hear you're a former Zeon pilot. Listen, with the cease fire enacted and peace talks in the works you have nothing to worry about here. I'll treat you like one of my own till we can get you to port." says the captain patting Autumn on the shoulder. "I'll get a cabin ready for you." he adds walking away.

Autumn follows close behind him through the ship. On the way they pass by Federation sailors, Autumn pretends he doesn't see them staring at him. He makes eye contact with one of the sailors, all they seem to do is glare at him. Once they reach the cabin, the captain gestures for Autumn to go inside.

"Thanks captain." says Autumn gratefully, "I don't think I can remember the last time I slept." he jokes.

"No worries, I'll be on the bridge if you need anything." says Tilton walking away.

Autumn walks inside and shuts the door behind him. Inside the cabin is a small desk in one corner with a light on it, a mirror, what looks to be a dresser below it, and a cot in the corner. Autumn lets himself fall onto the cot. He rolls over onto his back and stares at the ceiling. He tries to remember what day it is, it feels like it's been years since he was in the Thunderbolt. He hoped that Captain Tilton and his sub would be his ticket out of the war. He couldn't wait to start over. As he got lost in thought, Autumn's eyelids just grew too heavy and he found himself captured by sleep...


End file.
